Birmingham City University Open Access Repository
Not a member yet
8823 research outputs found
Sort by
Adopting Generative AI in Higher Education: A Dual-Perspective Study of Students and Lecturers in Saudi Universities
No full textThe integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, into higher education has introduced new opportunities and challenges for students and lecturers alike. This study investigates the psychological, ethical, and institutional factors that shape the adoption of GenAI tools in Saudi Arabian universities, drawing on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that incorporates constructs from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and ethical decision-making. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 578 undergraduate students and 309 university lecturers across three major institutions in Southern Saudi Arabia. Quantitative analysis using Structural Equation Modelling (SmartPLS 4) revealed that perceived usefulness, intrinsic motivation, and ethical trust significantly predicted students’ intention to use GenAI. Perceived ease of use influenced intention both directly and indirectly through usefulness, while institutional support positively shaped perceptions of GenAI’s value. Academic integrity and trust-related concerns emerged as key mediators of motivation, highlighting the ethical tensions in AI-assisted learning. Lecturer data revealed a parallel set of concerns, including fear of overreliance, diminished student effort, and erosion of assessment credibility. Although many faculty members had adapted their assessments in response to GenAI, institutional guidance was often perceived as lacking. Overall, the study offers a validated, context-sensitive model for understanding GenAI adoption in education and emphasises the importance of ethical frameworks, motivation-building, and institutional readiness. These findings offer actionable insights for policy-makers, curriculum designers, and academic leaders seeking to responsibly integrate GenAI into teaching and learning environments
Electricity consumption in net zero ready homes with ASHP and PV and its effect on power networks. A case study in the UK
No full textLow-carbon homes with enhanced insulation and airtightness, heat pumps and renewables are expected to be more energy-efficient. However, their real operational performance remains uncertain until inhabited. The performance gap between modelled and implemented energy systems is well documented. There is relatively little work showing the performance gap in practice for operational domestic heat pumps, particularly when combined with PV generation. This study examines the performance of 7 low-carbon homes constructed according the UK’s Future Homes Standard. It offers a comprehensive assessment of the operational impacts of low carbon dwellings on local power infrastructures, representing some of the earliest implementations of these new building regulations for future homes in the UK. A whole year of energy consumption data is analysed using a combination of regression techniques, graphical representations, and tabular data analysis to investigate operational energy performance, heat pump efficiency, peak power demand, and renewable energy utilization, providing novel insight to the implications of heat pumps on local power networks. The study reveals that measured diversified peak demand was just 14.6% of the total design capacity. Heating and cooking accounted for more than 80% of the peak power. While an average of 65% of solar energy generated was utilized within the homes, there remains scope to enhance PV energy integration by expanding the area of PV panels. These findings underscore that relying solely on theoretical or installed capacity could significantly overestimate actual network requirements and reinforces the importance of diversity-based planning and the role of occupancy patterns in shaping peak demand
Effect of Oral and Topical Sodium Bicarbonate on Functional Recovery and Soccer-Specific Performance After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
No full textObjectives: This study assessed the influence of oral and topical sodium bicarbonate (SB) on recovery and soccer-specific performance after exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design, 24 soccer players were allocated to oral SB, topical SB (PR Lotion, Momentous), or placebo (PLA) (n = 8 per condition) and attended six laboratory sessions: (i) familiarization, (ii) baseline measures, and (iii) four experimental trials on consecutive days. Muscle damage was induced on day 1 using 40 × 15 m sprints, after which either 0.3 g·kg−1 body mass (BM) SB (SB-ORAL), 0.9036 g·kg−1 BM PR Lotion (SB-LOTION), or an equivalent PLA was given. Recovery outcomes were measured post-EIMD, 1 d, 2 d, and 3 d post (day 1–4). Soccer-specific performance was repeated 3 d post, with supplements administered again 2 h pre-exercise. Recovery measures included muscle soreness, vertical jump height, and maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Illinois agility test (IAT), 8 × 25 m repeated sprints, and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2) were assessed as soccer-specific performance. Results: Neither SB-ORAL nor SB-LOTION accelerated indices of recovery but decline in soccer-specific performance from baseline to 3 d post was attenuated for SB-ORAL, with significant effects for IAT (p = 0.032, g = 1.69) and Yo-Yo IR2 (p = 0.026, g = 1.61) compared with PLA. Conclusions: SB did not accelerate recovery following EIMD but prescribing oral SB before subsequent exercise might rescue key performance indicators. These findings offer implications for practitioners working with soccer players during periods where full recovery is not achieved
“The perfect place to make a fresh start”: Unproblematic constructions of migration in the UK television programme Wanted Down Under
No full textResearch on media discourses about migration in the United Kingdom primarily focus on immigration, and particularly the ways in which refugees and asylum seekers are constructed as invaders, criminals or drains on the UK. By contrast, research about British citizens who emigrate from the UK has been less widely conducted, particularly in relation to the media. This article addresses this lacuna through a critical discursive analysis of the UK daytime television programme Wanted Down Under, in which British participants are given a trial week living in Australia or New Zealand to help them decide if migrating is the right decision for them. Fifty episodes were analysed using the principles of Critical Discursive Psychology and three interpretative repertoires were identified: Few restrictions make migration possible and easy; Migration as a better lifestyle; and the urgency of realising long-held dreams. In addition, two ideological dilemmas were identified: Separation from family ties as a reason to not migrate; and Lifestyle at home a reason to not migrate. These discourses are discussed in relation to privileged notions of migration and we suggest that these mediated discourses draw on colonial narratives that imply that migration for British citizens is unproblematic and easy
Endometriosis policy and delivery systems: a comprehensive global scoping review
No full textDespite the prevalence and socioeconomic impact of endometriosis, it is under-represented in global health policy. To our knowledge, this scoping review is the first to comprehensively map the availability of global endometriosis policies. The 477 included documents identified three frameworks and one approach used by countries to develop and operationalise endometriosis policies and initiatives: (1) stand-alone endometriosis national action plans (NAPs); (2) integration of endometriosis policy and initiatives into other health NAPs; (3) stand-alone endometriosis laws; and (4) ad-hoc initiatives. A thematic analysis enabled the aggregation of global endometriosis policies and initiatives within the WHO health system building blocks. Further analysis revealed the maturity of countries’ policy development. No information could be detected for 98 countries. However, 48 countries were raising awareness of endometriosis as a national problem, 36 countries had placed endometriosis on the political agenda, eight were adopting policies for a national endometriosis strategy, and four were implementing and evaluating strategies. Despite the global scarcity of endometriosis policy framework documents, this Review highlights promising examples, most notably Australia's and France's endometriosis NAP, which could be adapted by countries seeking to advance their endometriosis policies
Diverse Pathways and the Role of Timing: Youth Experiences of Leaving Care in China
No full textIn China, young people in state‐funded childcare institutions ( Fuliyuan ) are required to exit at age 18 unless still in education, compressing the move to adulthood. This study applies a life‐course lens to examine how the timing and sequencing of key life events shape care leavers' trajectories. We conducted qualitative, semi‐structured interviews with 22 care leavers and analysed the data thematically. The findings indicate three pathways: (i) school‐leaver, marked by exits at or around 18 aligned with finishing school and rapid entry to the workplace; (ii) family‐builder, characterized by extended/gradual exits beyond 18, with marriage commonly signalling departure; and (iii) unpredictable, where participants experienced disordered, nonlinear life trajectories associated with cumulative disadvantages. Across pathways, outcomes reflected structural conditions, including limited preparation for independence and sparse aftercare. Findings contribute a China‐specific perspective to international leaving‐care research and underscore the need for flexible, individualized policies that assess readiness rather than rely solely on age thresholds. We also highlight the potential benefits of extended care, provided it is paired with continued support and opportunities to build agency, and call for early interventions to prevent disrupted exits from school and other key institutions
How Leaders Navigate Dysfunctional Interdependency: The Interplay between Leading and Politicking in Ghanaian Public Hospitals
No full textIn this study, we explore why and how leaders deploy political behaviour to overcome dysfunctional interdependency in public organizations. Employing grounded theory methodology and analyzing interview data from managers of public hospitals in Ghana, we uncover how structural and emotional factors create dysfunctional interdependency and how managers use trans-spherical leadership – an approach that conceives effective leadership as orchestrating influence beyond a manager’s focal sphere – to overcome this situation. Trans-spherical leadership has two dimensions (buffering and bridging), three levels (micro-lobby, meso-lobby, and macro-lobby) and two mechanisms (substance and signal). We also found that it serves as a foundational approach that underpins the successful deployment of other leadership styles. Together, our findings highlight the role of political behaviour in effective leadership as well as the synonymity of effective leadership and internal politicking in dysfunctional conditions, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of public leadership as a political process
United by RapidILL: Sharing Content and Building Community in UK Libraries
No full textThis presentation traces the evolution of RapidILL in the UK and Ireland from the early pandemic response to a mature, community-driven resource-sharing network. It highlights key milestones, institutional case studies, practitioner insights, and the impact of collaboration across UKI libraries. The session demonstrates how RapidILL has strengthened turnaround times, reduced costs, and built a resilient, supportive interlending community, while outlining future developments in analytics and workflow design
Ranjit Movietone: India's Longest Running Studio and Industrial Integration in Cinema
No full textThis essay revisits the history of Ranjit Movietone, India’s longest running studio to date. Based on new research, it argues that Ranjit Movietone’s forty years record was made possible by a form of transversal integration that is not accounted for in current film historiography. The result of a symbiotic relation between film production and cotton trading in colonial India, Ranjit Movietone’s mode of operation hinged on time delay, over-production and slow turnover. This argument is supported by the analysis of visual material contemporary to, and often produced by Ranjit Movietone. Most of Ranjit Movietone’s films destroyed in a fire; the essays seeks to demonstrate that valuable historiographic insights can be gained from paying close attention to para-filmic sources.
This material also shows that the star value of studio co-founder Gohar Kayoum Mamajiwala was an important, though not the sole, component of Ranjit’s mode of operation. Better known in her days as the ‘Queen of Emotions’, Miss Gohar has been written into film history simply as an actor and wife of studio owner and director Chandulal Shah. A more nuanced understanding of industrial integration in cinema, as it functions differently in specific historical formations, would enable us to make visible the valuable contribution to cinema of Gohar and other women like her
Artificial Intelligence Transparency and Explainability in Sustainable Healthcare
No full textIn the period of fast technical innovation, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force within the medical care market. This study explores the crucial measurements of AI application in healthcare, with a primary concentrate on cultivating openness, interpretability, and cooperation to make specific lasting methods. It establishes the stage by highlighting the crucial function of AI in healthcare. It highlights the necessity of incorporating concepts of openness and interpretability right into AI systems’ materials. This structure is essential for developing trust funds amongst stakeholders and advertising liable AI implementation within the healthcare environment. Furthermore, it illuminates the nuanced meanings of openness within the healthcare context, browsing regulative factors to consider and providing studies that brighten effective executions of clear AI in healthcare decision-making procedures. It better explores the details of interpretability and explainability, highlighting their value in boosting the human understanding of AI-driven healthcare choices. Methods and approaches for providing AI choices that are understandable to medical care experts are talked about thoroughly. Human–AI partnership becomes a critical motif in the story, diving right into the collaborating connection between healthcare specialists and AI systems. Techniques for reliable cooperation exist, showcasing exactly how human-in-the-loop techniques boost the total performance and dependability of AI applications in medical care. It checks out the intricacies related to releasing transparent and interpretable AI, describes the instructional requirements of medical care experts involved with AI, and challenges dominating resistance and apprehension within the market. Preparing for the future, the conversation reaches possible study instructions, discovering arising patterns and innovations positioned to form the future landscape of medical care AI. The chapter wraps up with the ongoing study, advancement, and authentic factors to consider, leading the way for a future where AI perfectly incorporates medical care, guaranteeing both development and sustainability